His Holiness the Dalai Lama speaking to members of the press at Magdalen College auditorium in Oxford, UK on September 14, 2015. (Photo courtesy/Ian Cumming/OHHDL)

(TibetanReview.net, Sep16, 2015) – On a second visit to the UK this year, Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, on Sep 14 inaugurated a Dalai Lama Centre for Compassion at the Oxford University. The aim of the centre, inspired by the Dalai Lama’s vision of compassion as a foundation for ethics, is to advance understanding of fundamental human values. Speaking to the fellows of the new centre, the 1989 Nobel Peace laureate said that despite it being the beginning of the 21st century, we were still hampered by old ways of thinking that only give rise to man-made problems, citing the examples of Russia and China which had recently held military parades to boast their armed might.

The Dalai Lama also met with members of the Oxford Tibetan Studies Department later in the afternoon.

The Dalai Lama began his nine visit of the current tour on Sep 13 at the Oxford’s Magdalen College where he reiterated that China’s current President Xi Jinping seemed to be more realistic than some of his predecessors and called him courageous for tackling the scourge of corruption. However, when asked about China’s Sep 8 mass parade in Tibet’s capital Lhasa to mark the 50th anniversary of the founding of what China calls the Tibet Autonomous Region, he has said many Tibetans were deeply sad inside while being forced to pretend that they were happy.

Over Sep 16-17, the Dalai Lama and former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Rowan Williams are leading a private symposium at Cambridge University. The symposium brings together scientists, writers, businesspeople, philosophers, young people and others in a genuine conversation about resources we need to shape humane, compassionate, intelligent responses to the various crises that confront us today.

On Sep 19, the Dalai Lama will give a public talk on ‘Compassion: the Foundation of Well-Being’, which will be followed by a question-answer session chaired by the psychologist and ‘emotional intelligence’ expert Daniel Goleman.

And on Sep 21, the Dalai Lama will join a discussion with leading experts in economics, education, neuroscience and altruism on how to create a happier and more caring world in an event organized by Action for Happiness of which he is the patron. “Our movement is encouraging many tens of thousands of people, from all walks of life, to put His Holiness’s universal ideas about happiness, compassion and ethical living into practice in their daily lives,” the centre’s Director, Dr Mark Williamson, was quoted as saying.

The Dalai Lama will also visit the Westminster, London, where he will meet with Parliamentarians in a meeting convened by the All Party Parliamentary Group for Tibet.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama with Lord Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury, at his house at Magdalene College in Cambridge, UK on September 15, 2015. (Photo courtesy/Ian Cumming/OHHDL)